OBJECTIF LUNE PlanetPress Production 7.4 User guide

User Guide

www.objectiflune.com

Copyright Information

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Title PlanetPress Workflow User Guide

Revision 2014-09-24

Copyright Information

Table of Content

Copyright Information 3

Table of Content 5

Overview 15

Icons used in this guide 15

Other Documentation 15

Getting Started 17

Environment Considerations 17

Terminal Services 17

Virtual Environments 17

32-Bit or 64-Bit? 17

Antivirus Considerations 18

Backup Considerations 18

Microsoft Office Compatibility 18

Network Considerations 18

Local and Network Rights 19

Account Requirements 19

Mapped Drives 19

Network Ports used by each service 19

Activate Your Printers 20

PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service Logon 21

Understanding PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools 23

The Nature of PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools 23

The Three Flavors of the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools 23

Terms and Definitions 23

About Configurations 24

About Processes 25

About Subprocesses 25

About Tasks 25

About Branches and Conditions 26

About Data 26

About Data Selections 27

AboutData Emulation 27

Emulations in the PlanetPress Workflow Tools: 27

About Related Programs and Services 28

Available Input Services 28

Available Output Services 28

About Documents 29

About Printing 29

The PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 31

Start the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 32

The PlanetPress Button 32

Table of Content

Create a New Configuration 33
Open a PlanetPress Suite Configuration File 33
Saving and Sending a Configuration 33
Save your Configuration 34
Send your Configuration 34
Import Processes from Another Configuration File 35
Import Documents 36
Import PrintShop Mail Documents 36
Change the Interface Language 36
Exit the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration Program 37
The Quick Access Toolbar 37
The PlanetPress Suite Ribbon 38
Start and Stop the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Service 39
The Configuration Components Pane 40
Access Process Properties 41
Add a PlanetPress Suite Process 44
Manipulate Local Variables 44
Activate or Deactivate a Process 45
Convert a Branch to a Subprocess 46
Manipulate Global Variables 46
View Document Properties 47
Use Data and Metadata Files Attached to Documents 48
Use Attached Document Preview 49
Add Resident Documents in the Configuration Components Pane 49
Associate Documents and PlanetPress Watch Printer Queues 50
Using the Clipboard and Drag & Drop 50
Rename Objects in the Configuration Components Pane 52
Reorder Objects in the Configuration Components Pane 52
Grouping Configuration Components 53
Expand and Collapse Categories and Groups in the Configuration Components Pane 54
Delete Objects and Groups from the Configuration Components Pane 54
The Process Area 54
Zoom In or Out within Process Area 54
Adding Tasks 55
Adding Branches 55
Edit a Task 55
Replacing Tasks, Conditions or Branches 56
Remove Tasks or Branches 56
Task Properties Dialog 56
Cutting, Copying and Pasting Tasks and Branches 57
Moving a Task or Branch Using Drag-and-Drop 58
Ignoring Tasks and Branches 59
Resize Rows and Columns of the Process Area 59
Selecting Documents in Tasks 59
Highlight a Task or Branch 60
Undo a Command 60
Table of Content

Redo a Command 60
The Plug-in Bar 60
The Object Inspector Pane 61
Toggle the Run on Desktop Property 62
The Debug Information Pane 62
The Message Area Pane 63
Customizing the Program Window 63
Dock and Undock Areas of the Program Window 64
Show or Hide Areas of the Program Window 64
Combine and Attach Areas 65
Resize the Program Window Areas 68
Preferences 68
General User Options 69
Object Inspector User Options 69
Configuration Components Pane User Options 70
Default Configuration User Options 70
Notification Messages Preferences 70
Sample Data User Options 72
Network User Options 72
PlanetPress Capture User Options 73
PDF Text Extraction Tolerance Factors 78
Logging User Options 79
Messenger User Options 79
HTTP Server Input User Options 80
HTTPServer Input 2 User Options 80
LPD Input Preferences 81
Serial Input Service User Options 82
Telnet Input User Options 82
PlanetPress Fax User Options 83
FTP Output Service User Options 84
PlanetPress Image User Options 84
LPR Output User Options 86
PrintShop Web Connect Service User Options 87
Editor Options 87
Other Dialogs 90
Advanced SQL Statement dialog 90
Access Manager 91
SOAPAccess 93
PDF Viewer 94
The PlanetPress Suite Service Console 96
Add or Delete Document Instances 97
Virtual Drive Manager 98
Working With Variables 99
Types of Variables 99
Job Info Variables 99
Table of Content

Standard Variables 100

Available Standard Variables 100

The %i Loop Count Variable 101

Data in PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools 103

Choosing a Sample Data File 103

The Data Selector 103

Metadata tab 105

Metadata 106

Using the Metadata Data Selector 111

Using the File Viewer 112

Choosing a Database Type Sample Data File 112

Data Selections in PlanetPress Workflow Tools 112

Text-Based Data Selections 112

Database Data Selections 113

PDF Data Selections 113

Metadata Selections 114

Data File and Job File 114

Actual Data and Sample Data 115

Job File Names and Output File Names 115

Task Properties Reference 117

Input Tasks 119

Initial Input Tasks 119

Secondary Input Tasks 119

Merge PDF Files 120

Create File 122

Email Input 123

Folder Capture 125

Folder Listing 127

FTP Input 128

HTTP Client Input 130

HTTP Server Input 131

Input Error Bin 132

Input SOAP 133

LPD Input 135

Serial Input 136

PrintShop Web Connect 137

Telnet Input 138

WinQueue Input 139

Action Tasks 143

Add Document 143

Add/Remove Text 144

Advanced Search and Replace 145

Barcode Scan 147

Change Emulation 150

Create PDF 151

Table of Content

Decompress File(s) 153

Digital Action 154

Download to Printer 159

External Program 160

Load External File 161

Mathematical Operations 162

Open XSLT 163

PlanetPress Database 164

Rename 167

Run Script 168

Send Images to Printer 169

Search and Replace 171

Send to Folder 172

Set Job Infos and Variables 173

SOAP Client Plug-in 173

Standard Filter 175

Translator 176

Windows Print Converter 177

Data Splitters 179

About Using Emulations with Splitters 179

Database Splitter 180

Emulated Data Splitter 181

In-Stream Splitter 183

Generic Splitter 184

PDF Splitter 187

XML Splitter 188

Process Logic Tasks 191

Branch 191

Comment 192

File Name Condition 192

File Size Condition 193

Go Sub 193

Loop 194

Run Script 195

Send to Process 196

SNMP Condition 197

Text Condition 198

Time of Day Condition 200

Connector Tasks 201

Create MRDX 201

Input from SharePoint 202

Laserfiche Repository Output 203

Lookup in Microsoft® Excel® Documents 206

Microsoft® Word® Documents To PDF Conversion 208

Output to SharePoint 210

About PlanetPress Fax 213

Table of Content

PlanetPress Fax 213

Captaris RightFax Configuration 214

About PlanetPress Image 217

PlanetPress Image 217

Overview of the PDF/A and PDF/X Standards 223

PrintShop Mail 224

PlanetPress Capture 226

Capture Condition 226

Capture Fields Generator 229

Capture Fields Processor 230

Capture PGC Splitter 232

Find Capture Documents 234

Get Capture Document 236

PGC to PDF Converter 237

Metadata Tasks 239

Create Metadata 239

Embed/Extract PlanetPress Suite Metadata 240

Metadata Fields Management 241

Metadata File Management 242

Metadata Filter 243

Metadata Level Creation 244

Metadata Sequencer 245

Metadata Sorter 246

Metadata to PDI 247

Metadata-Based N-Up 247

Rule Interface 248

Sort Parameters 250

Pick Parameters 250

All In One 251

Output Tasks 253

Delete 253

FTP Output 254

Print Using a Windows Driver 255

Printer Queue Output 256

Send Email 257

Send to Folder 260

SOAP Client Plug-in 260

Variable Properties 262

Unknown Tasks 263

Masks 264

Date and Time Format 264

Special Workflow Types 265

Special Workflows 265

PDFWorkflow 265

PlanetPress Capture Workflow 265

Table of Content

HTTPServer workflow 265

PlanetPress Capture Workflow 265

The PlanetPress Capture workflow 266

The Examples 267

PlanetPress Capture Glossary 267

General Considerations 269

Security Considerations 270

20,000 Patterns 271

THE NUMBERS 271

EXAMPLE 272

EXTENDING 272

CONTAMINATION 273

SAFEGUARDS 274

CONCLUSION 274

Anoto penDirector 274

PlanetPress Mobile Application 275

PlanetPress Capture Implementation Restrictions 276

Printer limitations 276

Black ink close to patterns 276

Paper quality 277

Pattern sizes 277

Distance between patterns 278

Basic Functional Capture Workflow 278

Capture Post Processing Workflow 279

Capture Web Manager Workflow 280

Installation 281

Explanation 281

Considerations 281

HTTP Server Workflow 281

Important Configuration, Setup and Options 282

Request/Process/Response cycle 283

Example HTTPWorkflows 284

HTTP PDF Invoice Request 284

Breakdown of this URL: 284

Process Illustration 284

Task Breakdown 285

HTTP Brochure Request 285

Resources 285

Installation 285

Task Breakdown 285

PDF Workflow 286

Examples 287

Daily Sales Report from PDF Files 287

Resources 287

Task Breakdown 287

Table of Content

Printer Queues and Documents 289
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Printer Queues 289
Shared Printer Queue Properties 289
Windows Output Printer Queue 290
LPR Output Printer Queue 290
FTP Output Printer Queue 291
Send to Folder Printer Queue 292
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and PlanetPress Design Documents 293
Variable Content Document File Formats: PTZ, PTK and PS 293
PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and Printshop Mail Documents 294
Triggers 294
Load Balancing 295
Location of Documents and Resources 297
Debugging and Error Handling 299
Debugging your PlanetPress Suite Process 299
Debugging and Emulation changes 300
About Error Handling 301
Using the On Error tab 301
Creating and Using Error Processes 301
Accessing the Logs 302
Resubmit Backed Up Input Files to a Process 303
Knowing What to Resubmit 304
Using Scripts 305
The Script Editor and XSLT Editor 305
Use the Editor 306
Import and Export Scripts 306
Find Strings in a Script 306
Find and Replace Strings in a Script 307
Go to a Line in a Script 308
Toggle Bookmarks 308
Jump to Bookmarks 309
SOAP Server API Reference 309
SOAP API - SubmitJob 309
SOAP API - PostJob 310
SOAP API - GetProcessList 310
SOAP API - GetProcessTaskList 311
SOAP API - GetSOAPProcessList 312
SOAP API - PostJobInfoStruc 312
SOAP API - SubmitJobInfStruc 313
The Watch Object 313
Watch.ShowMessage 314
Watch.ExecuteExternalProgram 315
Watch.GetJobFileName 315
Watch.GetOriginalFileName 316
Table of Content

Watch.GetMetadataFilename 316

Watch.InputBox 317

Watch.GetJobInfo 318

Watch.SetJobInfo 318

Watch.GetVariable 319

Watch.SetVariable 319

Watch.ExpandString 320

Watch.Log 320

Watch.Sleep 321

Script.ReturnValue 322

Stopping Execution 323

Index 325

Table of Content

Overview

This PDF documentation covers version 7.4. To view the documentation of previous versions please refer to the PDF files

available in the Downloads section of our website:

http://www.objectiflune.com/OL/Download/DownloadCenter.

Icons used in this guide

Some icons are used throughout this guide in order to catch your attention to certain particular information.

Notes: This icon shows you something that complements the information around it. Understanding notes is not crit-

ical but may be helpful when using PlanetPress Workflow.

Warnings: This icon shows information that may be critical when using PlanetPress Workflow. It is important to pay

attention to these warnings.

Technical: This icon shows technical information that may require some technical knowledge to understand.

Other Documentation

For other related documentation , please see the drop-down menu at the top-right corner of this page.

Overview

Getting Started

This chapter describes how to install the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and how to set up your working environment.

Environment Considerations

This page is intended to provide technical information about the environment in which PlanetPress Workflow is intended to

run.

Terminal Services

PlanetPress Suite does not support Terminal Services environment as possible under Windows 2000, 2003 and 2008. This is to

say, if Terminal Services is installed on the server where PlanetPress Suite is located, unexpected behaviors may occur and

will not be supported by our company. Furthermore, using PlanetPress Suite in a Terminal Service environment is probably an

infringement of our End-User License Agreement.

Terminal Services may also be referred to as Terminal Server or Remote Administration Mode (Windows Server 2003 and

2008).

Single-User Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)(where only one person can use RDPat a time) is supported for PlanetPress Suite

version 6.2 and higher, however it is only supported in Windows XP or Windows 2003. While later versions of Windows may

not cause issues when accessing PlanetPress Suite through RDP, these combinations are no longer tested and may not be func-

tional.

Virtual Environments

Both PlanetPress Suite 6 and PlanetPress Suite 7 officially support VMWare Environment. This includes VMWare Player,

VMWare Workstation as well as an ESXVMWare Installation.

PlanetPress Suite 7.1 and higher also support VMotion, which means the virtual machine hosting PlanetPress Suite can be

automatically moved from one ESXserver to another in a clustered installation.

PlanetPressSuite 7.5.1 and higher started supporting Hyper-V virtualization in addition to the previous environments.

PlanetPress Suite is not officially supported on any other virtual machines such as Virtual PC, Parallels, Bochs, Xen, etc. While

running PlanetPress on these virtual machines may work, and they are properly detected by PlanetPress Suite 7.5.1 and

higher, we have not tested them and cannot offer support for them.

The PlanetPress Suite End-User License Agreement (EULA) specifies that a PlanetPress Suite software license may

only be used on a single virtual or physical PC at a time. While copying a virtual machine for backup purposes is

acceptable, running two instances of the same machine, using the same serial number, is strictly prohibited.

32-Bit or 64-Bit?

PlanetPress Suite version 7.1.3 and higher support 64-Bit operating system. However, our application remains 32-bits in this

environment, which means that for all intents and purposes there is no difference between those two environments as far as

PlanetPress Suite is concerned.

Getting Started

Antivirus Considerations

PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools generates a very large amount of temporary data on your hard disk, especially when manip-

ulating or creating PDF files. This can sometimes cause issues when any other software is trying to access the temporary files

at the same time as PlanetPress Workflow and its components are trying to read, write, create or delete those files.

If you experience these issues you may want to temporarily disable your antivirus "live", "daily"or "deep"scans for the fol-

lowing folders and processes:

Disabling any antivirus scanning permanently on any folder or program is not recommended, and ObjectifLune can-

not be held reliable for any consequence of disabling your antivirus or whitelisting the folders or executables listed

here, or any other change in your antivirus protection setup!

l On Windows 2000/2003/XP:

l C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Objectif Lune\PlanetPress Suite 7\

l C:\Documents and Settings\planetpress\Local Settings\Temp\ (where planetpress is the user under which

Watch is configured)

l On Windows Vista/7/2008:

l C:\ProgramData\Objectif Lune\PlanetPress Suite 7\

l C:\Users\planetpress\AppData\Local\Temp\ (where planetpress is the user under which Watch is configured)

l On all systems:

l C:\Windows\Temp\

l Processes:

l PPAlmbic.exe

l PPWatchService.exe

l PPImage.exe

l PPMessenger.exe

Note: C:\Windows\Temp\ is used by multiple software which may cause risks on your computer. However, PlanetPress Work-

flow may use this folder as temporary storage, especially in the case of creating PDF files. We do not recommend disabling

scan on this folder, unless you notice performance issues when generating PDFs, and then only as a test.

Backup Considerations

For similar reasons, it is important to know that backup software can also access files while copying them to a remote backup

location, so you should make sure that no PlanetPress Workflow process is working during your backups.

Microsoft Office Compatibility

The Microsoft Office 2010 line of products has not been certified for use with PlanetPress Suite. Some of its products may not

be compatible with the connectors included in the Suite.

Network Considerations

While PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools is typically installed on a server machine that is only accessed by one single user such

as an ITperson, multiple users logging on to that machine is a possibility (except with terminal servers, see Environment Con-

siderations). Because each user may have different local and network rights, it may be important to consider the implications

in regards to the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools. To change the service logon information, see PlanetPress Suite Workflow

Tools Service Logon.

Getting Started

Local and Network Rights

Programs, such as PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and all its services, must identify themselves in order to be granted per-

mission to perform operations on the computer on which they run as well as on other computers accessible via a network con-

nection. On a given workstation, you can configure your PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools to use either the local system

account or any specific user account. When you do this, you grant the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and all its services the

same rights associated with the selected account (except for PlanetPress Messenger Service which always runs on the Local

System account).

When you are running the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program on a workstation, if it is associated with an

account that is different from your account, the following icon is displayed in the lower right corner of the PlanetPress Suite

Workflow Tools Configuration program: . The icon reminds you that the logon information is different for the PlanetPress

Suite services, and that some network resources may not be accessibly by PlanetPress Suite when running a live con-

figuration.

Account Requirements

PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools and its services require administrator rights to run on any given computer and must there-

fore be associated with an account that has such rights.

We recommend creating a network or domain account specifically for the PlanetPress Suite services (typically called

"planetpress"or "ppress"), which has administrator credentials on the machine where it is installed, and is given proper rights

for any network resources your configuration may request.

Mapped Drives

Mapped drives (for example, drive X: leading to \\server\public\)are always user-specific and are created at logon. This

means that mapped drives are typically not available by the PlanetPress Suite services when running a live configuration. Fur-

thermore, while the mapped drives are not shared, they are still limited to one map per computer, meaning if one user maps

the X: drive, a different user (or a service)will not be able to map it again.

This creates a limitation in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools:if you create a mapped drive as a user, you will not have

access to this mapped drive while running as a service unless you log off, and then have PlanetPress Workflow Tools map the

drive using a Run Script action inside a Startup Process.

We strongly recommended that instead of using mapped drives, you use full UNCpaths for your network drives. PlanetPress

Suite Worfklow Tools can automatically convert mapped paths to UNCpaths. For more information, please see Network User

Options.

Network Ports used by each service

The port configuration for each PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools component is described in the following table. The port

number assignments comply with Internet standards. If the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools component is not active, the

port is not used.

Component Protocol Local Port Remote Port

Email Input (POP3 mode) TCP Default

1

110

Email Input (Outlook mode) TCP see Remote Port See Microsoft Knowledge Base article 278339

Folder Capture TCP/UDP Default

1

Standard Windows file and printer sharing ports

2

:

l UDP 137, 138; TCP 139 (NetBIOS over

TCP/IP (NetBT))

Getting Started

Component Protocol Local Port Remote Port

l UDP 445; TCP 445 (SMB over TCP/IP)

LPD Input TCP 515 (listening port) N/A

FTP Input TCP Default

1

21

Telnet Input TCP Default

1

9100 (configurable)

FTP Output TCP Default

1

21

Email Output (SMTP mode) TCP Default

1

25

Email Output (Outlook mode) TCP

See Email Input (Outlook

mode)

See Email Input (Outlook mode)

Send to Folder Windows Queue

Output

TCP Default

1

Standard Windows file and printer sharing ports

2

:

l 137, 138 and/or 139 (NetBIOS over TCP/IP

(NetBT))

l 445 (SMB Over TCP/IP)

LPR Output TCP Default or 721 to 731

3

515

PlanetPress Database

TCP or

UDP

Unknown

4

Unknown

4

SNMP Condition UDP Default

1

161

1. Value is greater than 1024 and is assigned by Windows XP. This is the default.

2. Windows NT 4.0 uses NetBIOS over TCP/IP for file and printer sharing, while Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Win-

dows Server 2003 may be configured to use NetBIOS over TCP/IP or SMB over TCP/IP. The operating system may use

additional ports. Refer to the Windows documentation for further information.

3. If the “No source port range restriction” option is checked (recommended), see footnote a. If the option is unchecked,

the local port will be chosen from a range going from 721 to 731.

4. Contact your DBMS vendor to determine which ports are used by the ODBC driver for accessing a network database.

Activate Your Printers

The Activate a Printer dialog lists the existing activated printers on the system and lets you add new activations.

Printer activations are normally given to you by the activations department electronically, including a file that will auto-

matically add all your printers in this dialog.

The printer list displays the following information

l License Number:Reference number of the activation, linked to your customer account.

l Magic Number:The magic number generated by the printer. If the magic number is incorrect, your jobs will output

with a watermark on that printer.

l Activation Code:The activation code generated by your license number and magic number. If the activation code is

incorrect, your jobs will output with a watermark on that printer.

l Printer Name (Optional):Name and/or model of the printer.

l Comments (Optional):Comments about the printer.

The following buttons are available in this dialog:

l Add:Brings up the Printer Activation dialog. This dialog lets you enter the information for the printer (see previous sec-

tion), then click OKto save the new activation.

l Delete:Removes the currently selected activation from the list.

l Web Activation:Click to access the online activation manager on our website.

Getting Started

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